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Lebanon’s fourth presidential vacuum has come at a very challenging time for the country that is facing one of the worst economic crises the modern world has seen. According to Arab Center Washington, the election of a new Lebanese president is being prevented by political disagreements and institutional difficulties, as well as the country’s intricate regional and global environment, which indicates that this time the vacuum “will be a long one”. The recent article by Anadolu Agency states that Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati had emphasized the need for “political will” to resolve an impasse on the election of a new president. Still, little progress has been made so far, as claimed by Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, who reported that not only the government had not taken any measures to resolve the crisis, but they also did not have the intention to do so due to their unwillingness to “hold the culprits accountable”. As stated by ACW, the absence of regional and international concurrence on how to bridge Lebanon’s political divisions can make the process of the election last indefinitely. Furthermore, as reported by Alarabiya News, Lebanon Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora claims that the country is “heading for an open-ended cabinet formation crisis” due to political hurdles between the key parliamentary blocks. Siniora also warned that the current presidential vacuum may resemble the one that preceded the election of Aoun on Oct. 31, 2016.

According to the recent article by NASASpaceFlight.com, China has joined the US as the second nation to launch to orbit this year by completing two subsequent successful space missions. However, further action might not happen as soon as in January 2023 as the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology is currently capable to produce up to six CZ-7A rockets per year, with faster production requiring around two to three years. Furthermore, The Diplomat has called the ‘space race’ between China and the US a myth, since the US still remains the most advanced space power in the world, with nearly seven times as many satellites in orbit as China. The powerful rockets of the US have a higher capability of delivering payloads into orbit. Besides, the commercial space industry of the US is rapidly growing, with hundreds of startups stepping in and billions of dollars being invested. China’s space funding is falling behind the one of the US and has previously trended in the wrong direction. The Washington Post confirms the US being on the right track in the ‘space race’ by pointing out NASA’s recent significant progress with the Artemis program, resulting in massive Space Launch System hoisting the Orion spacecraft into orbit around the moon.

It is highly unlikely that the EU’s economic sanctions on Russia will expire for whole sectors or industries by 31 January 2023 due to the continuous military aggression of Russia against Ukraine. The recent blogpost of Railfreight suggests that the six-month extension of the existing economic sanctions can be prolonged if the state of affairs does not stabilize, which does not seem very likely considering the ongoing military attacks. The Council of the European Union states that the restrictive measures in response to not treating the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as independent entities were extended until 24 February 2023, with the inclusion of further non-government-controlled areas of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Furthermore, the actions of 1386 individuals and 171 entities not recognizing Ukraine’s independence have led to them being subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban until 15 March 2023. According to Skuld, a world leading marine insurer, it is highly likely that sanctions will remain in place and will be extended due to the increasingly tense political situation. Gard, yet another world’s leading marine insurer, has mentioned the recent adoption of the 9th package of the EU’s sanctions against Russia on 16 December 2022, which signifies the EU’s continuous reaction to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

The recent article published by Reuters states that the satellite imagery has demonstrated the ongoing work of North Korea restoring some of the tunnels that were inactive since 2018 due to a temporary prohibition of the nuclear weapon testing. According to South Korean lawmakers and their spy agency, a possible timeframe for a nuclear test could be affected by the current proceeding of the Chinese Communist Party congress, which began on October 16, and the midterm elections in the US on November 7. Moreover, Kim Jong Un’s actions may be induced by the war in Ukraine and the signals transmitted by his partners in China and Russia. Another possible sign of North Korea conducting a nuclear test in the near future might be the statement of Kim Jong Un, in which he expressed the feeling of no longer being bound by the moratorium on denuclearization. The news agency Bloomberg has also confirmed that, based on the reports of South Korean media, a new passageway is being built at the location where all the previous six nuclear tests have taken place. Furthermore, in the Congressional Research Service report, updated on September 2022, it has been mentioned that Kim may justify the seventh nuclear test as a reaction to the “hostile acts” of the US and South Korea.